2026 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Every year my goal is to compete at the North Carolina State Championships. This year the state meet was held at Nu Life Fitness in Williamston North Carolina. This was the first state meet held at Nu Life Fitness, and I would love to see a return to this location in the future. Great facility, everyone was super nice and I think everyone had a great time; I know I did.
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2026 ALL STEEL TEAM (GAME ON!!!): Win or lose I love competition. The All-Steam is everyone against everyone, the top lifters by K formula qualify for the Woody Leonard All-Steel Team. For my writeup I want to focus on the lifters who have qualified three times or more in an event. Three times mean you have to compete a minimum of three years. This is a list of the best of the best of the best.
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TOP 8 LIFTERS!!!!: I'm not saying that the top eight lifters were pound per pound the best at the state meet, what I'm saying is the top 8 are consistently the best.
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(#1!!!): 9X CURL, John Cooper: John Cooper wins in dominating fashion. Not only is John a 9x All-Steel team member (three higher than #2), BUT John has finished as the best lifter in the curl all 9 times. Not only undefeated at the state meet, but undefeated pound per pound. Heads up, at the 2026 state meet, John curled 216 pounds at a bodyweight of 215 pounds which is (1) the highest bodyweight curl in the world EVER and (2) this lift made john the #1 pound per pound lifter in the world, ever. Not bad, right!!
(#2): 6X FULL MEET, Mackenzie Grace Taylor: The battle for the #2 spot was close!!! Mackenzie and Madison Berry have both qualified for the All-Steel team six times, but when you combine all three events Mackenzie has qualified 17 times while Madison has qualified 14 times. Mackenzie is only 18 so her total will go even higher before she outgrows the teenage division. Note, Mackenzie flew in from Kansas to compete, if she hadn't, she wouldn't have qualified for this list as you have to be a current All-Steel Team member to qualify; sadly, Mackenzie had to compete early as the meet was postponed after she flew in and she had to fly back.
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(#3): 6X FULL MEET, Madison Berry: It's difficult to make the All-Steel team, which is why it's a big deal. Madison is the youngest lifter EVER to qualify for the All-Steel team six times in fact, only one person has qualified more times (#2 is a tie) and he's two years short of being 4x Madison's age!!!
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(#4): 5X CURL, Ben Zak: When John Cooper asked me my goal for the curl, it wasn't a state record or state title, BUT to qualify for the All-Steel team in the curl. In the last four years I qualified once and lost three times. Adding five pounds to my curl, thanks John, led me to my fifth All-Steel team.
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(#5): 4X BENCH, Allison Freeman: Allison Freman would qualify for the fourth time in the bench which made her part of a three-way tie with Brooke and Cedric, BUT Allison has also qualified in the full meet 3x and the bench 3x (10 total, when you add 4x for curl) so based on tie breaking criteria, Allison check in at #4!!! In the past Allison has competed at the state meet, but this year Allison was fired up about the state meet, she wanted to be the best and she was.
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(#6): 4X CURL, Brooke Zak: In high school Brooke participated in a lot of sports and there wasn't a lot of time to focus on lifting. In 2026 Brooke returned to the lifting platform and she picked up where she left off as she qualified for the All-Steel team in the curl for the fourth time. In the past Brooke has qualified for the full meet 3x and the bench 2x (8x total, when combined with her curl) which gave Brooke a +1 edge over Cedric and earned her the fifth spot. Brooke is considering competing in the full meet and bench, again...to be continued.
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(#7): 4X FULL MEET, Cedric Jernigan: Lifters (4-6) each qualified for the All-Steel team four times, BUT the tie breaker was how many times you qualified if you count ALL of the events. Cedic has qualified for the All-Steel team 4 times in the full meet and three times in the bench (7x total) which places Cedric him at #6 (it was close).
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(#8): 3X CURL, Tony Huffman: 2026 was the year that Tony would qualify for the All-Steel Team for the third time. Two interesting facts about Tony. First, Tony was our ONLY lifters from outside of North Carolina to qualify for the team three times or more. Tony is from Virginia!!! Second, six of the seven lifters who made the list are from team JCC, Tony is the ONLY lifter from a different team to make the list. Tony represents Fitness Warehouse. Fitness Warehouse has won a LOT of team titles in all the events!!! ​
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HONORABLE MENTION: It takes a minimum of three years to make the ALL-Steel team three times, but it all starts with one or two. This is a list of lifters who made it for the first time. Amanda Evans, Jashara Ross, Dalton Fazio, Jared Stiltner, Blaze Meadlocks, David Haney, Cameron Joyner, Tim Garriss, AND Joseph Rascoe. Making the team for the second time was Ethan Binckley and Jennifer Zak.
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(2026) STATE CHAMPION'S WRITE UP:
WOMEN (97-132): The 97-pound class is one of my favorites, because generally it's won by a youth lifter so while the numbers aren't huge, some of these youth lifters vanish, and some of them become top lifters as they literally grow up in front of us and that cute little kid that you were cheering for all of a sudden is squatting 450 pounds like Mackenzie Grace Taylor!!! In 2026 we had two first time lifters, and they were, of course, the most popular lifters of the entire meet. In the curl it was Maidson Freeman who would post the top overall lift at 97 and under and in the bench AND the full meet it was Sophie Jernigan who would win her first state title in both events. Sophie and Madison each have a parent with multiple state titles, in fact our 123 champion is Madison's mother, Allison Freeman. Allison would win the overall title in the bench for the second time, the curl for the second time and Allison would post the total for the fourth time. At 132 I believe that Amanda Evans swept the world records in her age group on her way to posting the top total AND the top bench for the first time in both categories. When Brooke Zak was fifteen, she had posted the top curl four times. Brooke took five years off, but two days after her twentieth birthday Brooke stepped back on the lifting platform and picked up where she left off. Brooke set the state record AND Brooke posted the top curl for the fifth time!!!
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WOMEN (148+): Jen Zak was merciful as she didn't want to drop down a weight class and beat her daughter Brooke Zak this time, BUT it didn't matter as Jen would win her sixth powerlifting state title, her seventh bench title and her seventh curl state title. That's 20 state titles!!! At 181 Madison Berry was very balanced as she won her fifth state title in powerlifting, her fifth state title in bench AND her fifth state title in the curl. 15 State titles is impressive, BUT here's the cazy part, Madison is only 13 years old!!! There has never been a lifter in North Carolina who has won the overall title fifteen times by their 13th birthday!!! At 198, 18-year-old Mackenzie Grace Taylor is a 5x world champion and if you have a world champion in your weight class, well they are going to win. Mackenzie is attending college in Kansas, but this is the state meet, she flew back to North Carolina (had to compete early as the snowstorm pushed the meet back a week) and even on an off-day Mackenzie would win her seven powerlifting state title, her seventh bench state title AND her sixth curl state title. The State meet is big time in North Carolina which is why the same girls keep coming back to defend their state titles. The question, when would we see a first-time lifter in at 148 and above. The answer was SHW. At SHW Jashara Ross posted huge numbers on her way to winning her first state title in powerlifting and the bench. The big question is Jashara a one and done state champion or is she going to defend her title in 2027!!!!
MEN (105-165):​ As I said before, the lower weight classes are a lot of fun as some of these lifters will vanish, but many will continue to train and that young lifter that you were cheering for a few years ago is now crushing you. At 105 Weston Lee would win his first state title in the bench and powerlifting and at 114 TWIN BROTHER Dalton Lee who would also take home his first bench and powerlifting state title. Old guys RULE at 148 and 165. At 148 Ben Zak would win his tenth powerlifting state titles (happens if you compete for a hundred years) and he would also win his seventh bench state title and his seventh curl state title. Due to a vicious snowstorm the state meet was pushed back a week which worked out well for Tim Garriss. Tim was finally able to compete at the state championships. How did Tim do? Tim captured first in the bench and the curl. Great job Tim, see you at next year's state meet!!! Rounding out the 165 class was Robert Wilson who would win the powerlifting division. At 181 we had a crazy class as 3x state champion Cedric Jernigan would post the third highest total at the state meet by K formula, unfortunately for Cedric Ethan Binckley was in the same weight class and Ethan would poste the #1 total by K formula which would lead Ethan to his second state title in the bench, his second state in the curl and his first state title in ​powerlifting. Heads up, Ethan competed at 181, BUT he had the highest total out of ALL of all of the weight classes. Ethan is crazy strong!!!
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MEN (198-220): The best weight class of the state meet had to be 198. The meet started with Blaze Medlocks opening with a 396-pound squat for the early lead. Dalton Fazio would squat 424 on his third to take the lead. Dalton would increase his lead in with a 254 bench, BUT jumping from way behind to second was Cameron Joyner who would bench 330 pounds!!! The 198 class was coming down to the deadlifts. Cameron pulled a solid 369 which dropped him to third overall. Blaze pulled 463 pounds which was the top deadlift at 198, but would it be enough? Dalton pulled 452 on a (9-9) perfect lifting day which was enough to earn Dalton his third overall powerlifting state title. Cameron's big 330 bench easily won Cameron his first bench state title. In the curl it was Barron Capps who comes up EVERY YEAR from South Carolina to whip up on our North Carolina lifters. Great job Barron.
At 220 Gene Berry called Terry Napisa and asked Terry to compete. I'm not sure what Gene's magic words were, but it worked and I'm glad it did as Terry would take home his first North Carolina state powerlifting title. Joseph Rascoe is a lifting legend in North Carolina, but unknown to me, Joseph has never won the overall bench state title. Guess what, in 2026 that changed. At 64 years young Joseph won his first bench state title. Who won the curl? John Cooper and if you're wondering why I'm not saying much about John, well that part is to be continued when we get to the All-Steel Team. I'll just say, John dominated on his way to winning his ninth state curl title. John has more curl state titles than ANY lifter in North Carolina!!!
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MEN (242+): At 242 Austin Brown didn't get all the attempts that he wanted, but it didn't matter as Austin still lifted enough to win his first powerlifting state title and his first bench state title. In the curl it was split champions. Winning the North Carolina curl state title was David Haney, so David is your NC state champion, BUT once again Tony Huffman was the top overall lifter in the curl. Tony is from Virginia so Tony can't win the N.C. state title, but he is recognized in the All-Star category (link above). All-Star means you beat the NC state champion. At 275 Virginia once again dominated as Stephen Kolowski would take first overall in the bench and curl. Way to represent Virginia, Tony and Stephen!!! At 308 I could tell that Eric Lawson was upset with not hitting more attempts, BUT in the end, it didn't matter as Eric would take home his first bench and his first curl state title!!! AND FINALLY, first time lifter Scott Frazee had to eat a lot as he wanted to bump up to SHW and break all the state records. Not only did Scott break all the state records, BUT Scott also won his first state title in powerlifting AND bench!!! Great job lifters.
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